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'The Flash' To Introduce Time Travel With 'Groundhog Day' Episode

CW spinoff series The Flash has certainly lived up to its role as the weird, sci-fi counterpart of Arrow. Centered around the preternatural crime-fighting efforts of Barry Allen, the fastest (actually, second fastest) man alive, The Flash has already featured a number of superpowered villains including Multiplex (who can create clones of himself), Weather Wizard (who can create weather effects), Plastique (who can cause things to explode by touching them), and Girder (who can turn his skin to steel).

Things are going to get even stranger by the end of the The Flash's first season, as a few weeks from now an episode will introduce Barry and his friends to the phenomenon of time travel. The show has already laid the groundwork for the possibility of time travel through the mysterious exploits of Dr. Harrison Wells, and it could have very interesting implications for Barry's investigation into the death of his mother.

There are a lot of potential outcomes of time travel in a TV show (some of which can get really, really complicated), and The Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg told Entertainment Weekly that Barry's first encounter with time travel will result in an episode that blends very different tones.

"There’s an episode coming up where there is inadvertent connection to the Speed Force that results in probably our funniest hour as well as our darkest hour as the dangers of time travel come to light. It’s a mashup between Back to the Future and Terminator—the good version of time travel and the bad version of time travel."

Kreisberg has talked about time travel being "played both for hilarity and darkness" in the past when referring to episode 15 of the series, which will introduce Liam McIntyre as the second incarnation of Weather Wizard. Fans of the comics will no doubt be excited to hear about the show establishing the existence of the Speed Force, the energy from which Barry derives his superspeed. Since the Speed Force is timeless and touches upon all points in the past, present and future, it may well end up being the catalyst for Barry's adventures through time.

As for the way that time travel will be implemented, The Flash star Grant Gustin said that it will be similar to the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, the title of which has entered into popular vernacular as a way to describe any plot that involves repeating the same day over and over again. Just about every sci-fi show from Star Trek to The X-Files has had an episode dedicated to the concept, and now it's The Flash's turn.

"It’s a complete accident the first time [he time travels]. It’s really confusing because now we’re playing with timelines and we’re having to shoot things a couple different ways. It’s like a Groundhog Day-type element. It’s really funny and really exciting... He’s not handling it incredibly well. It’s freaking him out a little bit.

"He realizes, ‘Holy s**t, this an opportunity to change things with my family’s past. He doesn't know yet to maybe not do that, but that’s where Barry’s at when he realizes what he’s just learned that he can do, that he can maybe save his mom."

Man fans have speculated that the red blur that young Barry Allen saw on the night that his mother was killed, which whisked him out of his house and down the street, was actually his future self battling Reverse Flash in an attempt to save his mother. Will he ever manage to succeed? Kreisberg didn't give much away, but he did say that Barry's attempts to fix the past will have "massive repercussions for the show... After that episode, things are never going to be the same on The Flash."